Quatar Football Chief (a Guy With Two "Bins" In His Name--So You Know He's REALLY Rich) 'Splains Why His Oily Emirate "Deserves the World Cup"

I must admit it's something I never expected to see anchoring the National Post's "Editorials" page. But I guess Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmad Al Thani deserves to have his say, same as anyone else. Anyhoo, here's a bit of the double-bin sheikh trying to make the case that he was awarded the 2022 World Cup sans chicanery and hanky-panky:

I accept that we spent more money campaigning than other bids, but this was solely to catch up with our better known rivals. We had to tell people about our country and what we could offer, to overcome the perceived obstacles. But from the day we launched our bid to the day our country’s name was pulled from the envelope in Zurich, we played strictly by the rules.

Hey, I believe you, sheikh. And, heaven knows, you had to spend a ton o' cash to get FIFA to overlook a humongous obstacle that, truth be told, should have but the kibosh on your bid from the start. It is this:

The month of May [the month when the 2022 World Cup is scheduled] is characterized by rapidly rising daily high temperatures, with daily highs increasing from 95°F to 105°F over the course of the month, exceeding 111°F or dropping below 89°F only one day in ten.

Yowza, that's a scorcher!

I bet the phrase "hotter than Hades" did not feature anywhere in the sheikhs' pitch.